Best Italian movies ever
by gorelik-639-135844 | created - 06 Nov 2013 | updated - 13 Jul 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 282,788 | Gross: $11.99M
2. We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974)
124 min | Comedy, Drama
Three partisans bound by a strong friendship return home after the war, but the clash with everyday reality puts a strain on their bond.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Nino Manfredi, Vittorio Gassman, Stefania Sandrelli, Stefano Satta Flores
Votes: 7,275
3. Scent of a Woman (1974)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
A young private is assigned to accompany a blind captain. It soon becomes clear that they are both complex personalities.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Alessandro Momo, Agostina Belli, Moira Orfei
Votes: 5,155
4. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,939 | Gross: $57.60M
5. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,181 | Gross: $19.52M
6. Amarcord (1973)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of comedic and nostalgic vignettes set in a 1930s Italian coastal town.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Magali Noël, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia
Votes: 46,803 | Gross: $0.58M
7. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,159 | Gross: $0.05M
8. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 810,917 | Gross: $6.10M
9. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
R | 229 min | Crime, Drama
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams
Votes: 377,579 | Gross: $5.32M
10. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Western
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy
Votes: 232,584 | Gross: $14.50M
11. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,565 | Gross: $15.00M
12. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,632 | Gross: $0.06M
13. Umberto D. (1952)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
Votes: 28,171 | Gross: $0.07M
14. Suspiria (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé
Votes: 105,376
15. Black Sunday (1960)
Approved | 87 min | Horror
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani
Votes: 17,583
16. Marriage Italian Style (1964)
Not Rated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Wealthy businessman Domenico and penniless prostitute Filumena share a large part of their lives in post-WWII Italy.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Puglisi, Tecla Scarano
Votes: 11,033
17. The Conformist (1970)
R | 113 min | Drama
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Votes: 33,681 | Gross: $0.54M
18. Caesar Must Die (2012)
Unrated | 77 min | Drama
Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."
Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani | Stars: Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri, Antonio Frasca
Votes: 6,810
19. Death in Venice (1971)
GP | 130 min | Drama, Romance
While recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci
Votes: 23,031 | Gross: $0.15M
20. The Leopard (1963)
PG | 186 min | Drama, History
The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa
Votes: 28,806
21. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Not Rated | 179 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco and his brother Simone.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Claudia Cardinale
Votes: 21,191
22. The Last Emperor (1987)
PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History
Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying
Votes: 111,480 | Gross: $43.98M
23. L'Avventura (1960)
Not Rated | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar
Votes: 32,632
24. L'Eclisse (1962)
Not Rated | 126 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone
Votes: 22,061
25. Blow-Up (1966)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle
Votes: 67,625
26. Two Women (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raf Vallone, Eleonora Brown
Votes: 12,423
27. General Della Rovere (1959)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, War
Bardone, a petty con man, is arrested by the Gestapo and coerced into impersonating a partisan leader in order to expose another resistance organizer.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Vittorio De Sica, Hannes Messemer, Sandra Milo, Giovanna Ralli
Votes: 3,680
28. Romeo and Juliet (1968)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Romance
When two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 34,757 | Gross: $38.90M
29. La Traviata (1982)
G | 109 min | Drama, Music
Violetta meets Alfredo and quickly falls for him. After the lovers run away together, they live in bliss for a short time. However, Alfredo's father, Giorgio, starts to interfere, concerned... See full summary »
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Allan Monk
Votes: 1,510 | Gross: $3.78M
30. A Pure Formality (1994)
PG-13 | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Onoff is a famous writer who hasn't published any new books for quite some time and has become a recluse. When he is picked up by the police one stormy night, without any identification, ... See full summary »
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Roman Polanski, Sergio Rubini, Nicola Di Pinto
Votes: 12,562 | Gross: $0.20M
31. The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Not Rated | 85 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A series of vignettes depicting the lives of the original Franciscan monks, including their leader and the bumbling Ginepro.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Aldo Fabrizi, Gianfranco Bellini, Peparuolo, Severino Pisacane
Votes: 4,044
32. The Great Silence (1968)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Western
A mute gunfighter defends a young widow and a group of outlaws against a gang of bounty killers in the winter of 1898, and a grim, tense struggle unfolds.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Vonetta McGee
Votes: 18,101 | Gross: $0.05M
33. Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime
A motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori, Totò
Votes: 11,512
34. Le Bal (1983)
109 min | History, Musical
Dance moves, music and fashion mark the passage of time inside a Paris dance hall, throughout fifty years of history.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Étienne Guichard, Régis Bouquet, Francesco De Rosa, Arnault LeCarpentier
Votes: 3,029
35. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Not Rated | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini, Marcello Morante
Votes: 13,703
36. Illustrious Corpses (1976)
PG | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An investigation of the judges' assassinations reveals a political background.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Lino Ventura, Tino Carraro, Marcel Bozzuffi, Paolo Bonacelli
Votes: 2,797
37. Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
Not Rated | 125 min | Crime, Drama, History
The unclear and complicated twists between governal powers, independentist party and Mafia in the Sicily of the '40s culminate with the death of Salvatore Giuliano.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Frank Wolff, Salvo Randone, Frederico Zardi, Pippo Agusta
Votes: 3,706
38. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
G | 115 min | Comedy, Western
A lazy, unorthodox gunfighter and his portly, horse-thieving brother defend a Mormon settlement from a land-grabbing Major, a Mexican bandit, and their henchmen.
Director: Enzo Barboni | Stars: Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Steffen Zacharias, Dan Sturkie
Votes: 24,997
39. Cabiria (1914)
Not Rated | 148 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Cabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.
Director: Giovanni Pastrone | Stars: Italia Almirante-Manzini, Lidia Quaranta, Bartolomeo Pagano, Carolina Catena
Votes: 3,957
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